bruce rastetter net worth

In 1989, De Niro co-founded the hugely successful production company TriBeCa Productions, and the actor owns several top restaurants around the world. Justin Kirchhoff President, Summit Ag Investors. "He is a real entrepreneur and innovator," said David Meisinger, who worked for him then and today is director of sales at Urbandale's Validus, which certifies the practices of food companies and producers. "Regent Rastetter is pushing an agenda of treating Iowa's universities as corporations rather than institutions of higher learning," said Evan Burger, of the U.S. Student Association, an organization that advocates for student issues. But a fancy biotech trait offered limited value if the genetic base of the seed was inferior and overall yields suffered. It's part of modern agriculture.". Bruce Rastetter, an agribusiness mogul whos made a fortune in pork, ethanol and farm real estate, has long worked behind the scenes to help bankroll conservatives across the country, but Saturday is a public coming out party of sorts for Rastetter as he hosts the first-ever Iowa Agriculture Summit. Like one of those for your desk? Follow live coverage Saturday from the Iowa Ag Summit at DesMoinesRegister.com/AgSummitLive. Neither party will disclose the agreements terms, but that deal contributed to the phenomenal success of the Roundup Ready soybean seed, a technology thats now used in 96% of the soybean acreage in the U.S., likely generating in excess of $10 billion for Monsanto since 1997. But Rastetters moves over the past decade look like a how to guide for becoming a political power player, with far more influence than other wannabe Iowa kingmakers. Bruce Rastetter is not amused by the "kingmaker" label often thrown around by the press. About the time Heartland was sold, investors at Whitney called to ask him if he wanted to work with ethanol. He's flipping around a football. Hes also developed his share of business and political enemies in recent years, ranging from environmentalists who dont like his hog operations to university advocates who dont like the way his money has bought influence at the states public universities, where he leads the board of regents. But no research thus far has shown that ultrahigh populations combined with narrow rows significantly increased corn yield., It is an interesting story and a great conversation piece, adds Tony Vyn, professor of agronomy at Purdue University, but a sideline to the real drivers of corn yield and economic efficiency gains that are needed most for this decade., For farmers theres a sizable capital risk in switching. It's what our country and our economic system allows," he said. Tall has always been sexy for corn, even though less than half of the plant is actually harvested. Even if the process has grown more involved and advanced, the strategy behind breeding has changed little in ten millennia. Efficiency. He got help from Branstad, whom he recruited to run for governor in 2010 and was his top donor. Chris Christie as a potential presidential candidate. Having conquered pork, Rastetter then turned his sights to ethanol. In the coming days, Rastetter will be narrowing down what questions hell ask the candidates on March 7. Ballotpedia features 408,503 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. Rastetter is an active philanthropist and has served as an advisor and member of several boards, including the American Agriculture and Energy Council, AltEnergy, Cultivation Corridor, Iowa Premium Beef, FS Bioenergia, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa State Universitys College of Agriculture and Rural American Fund. Harreld, who starts as president Monday [November 2], visited Cedar Rapids in early June to attend a meeting with Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter and Jean Robillard, UI's vice president of medical affairs and chairman of the UI Presidential Search and Screen Committee. I don't give to get access. The Ryans consulting and lobbying firm Concordia Group is organizing the agriculture summit. [5], Rastetter is a well-known Republican donor, donating more than $1.5 million to state and federal political campaigns since 2003. Nonetheless, we hop into the elevator cab, he flips the switch to get it moving, and up we go as the wind rips into us at 40mph. It's one Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz gave him in 2013. FORBES estimates that Stines companywhich, among other things, also breeds corn genetics, creates plant traits in its biotech lab and has a small but growing commercial seed sales operationis worth nearly $3 billion. [4] In 2011, Rastetter was also appointed to the state of Iowa Board of Regents, which was followed, in 2013, with an appointment to the Iowa Premium Beef board. Abby Blome Way to get here was not at all a simple task. "A guy looks back on things and wishes he would have done this or that thing, or taken more time and not worked so hard," Rastetter said. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Rastetter holds a bachelor's degree in political science. When you put him in the room with a bunch of people, hes going to outpace everybody intellectually.. Rastetters also been stepping more into the public sphere the past couple of years, most notably in 2011 by joining the Iowa Board of Regents, where hes been the subject of almost constant controversy. He has the right combination of everything, says son Myron, who has worked alongside his father at the company for 20 years. He slowly upped his contributions to Republican causes beyond the state in 2008, giving tens of thousands to Karl Roves American Crossroads and the National Republican Senatorial Committee over the past few cycles. In the early 1930s, prior to the Dust Bowl, 7,000 corn plants per acre were grown in the U.S., yielding about 27 bushels per acre. He has been buying up land in Africa along with the Iowa-based Summit Group and Global Agriculture Fund of the Pharos Financial Group, in partnership with AgriSol Energy LLC and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, and Serengeti Advisers Limited, a Tanzanian investment and consulting firm led by Iddi Simba The contracts Stine drew up prohibited this. USING POLITICAL CLOUT TO 'MAKE A DIFFERENCE'. American agribusinessman, agricultural entrepreneur, "Bruce Rastetter, the One Iowan Who Got Jeb Bush To Care About Hogs", "Bruce Rastetter: The quiet, fierce man behind ag summit", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Rastetter&oldid=1095489056, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 June 2022, at 17:17. After learning about some anomalous soybean plants with extra seeds in a nearby field, Stine became obsessed with breeding higher-yielding seeds to boost profits. Stines savvy is homegrown. Its hard to imagine anyone more Iowa than Rastetter. We have to make sure that not only is the education affordable, but it brings the value for what the students and parents are paying.". He floated the concept to Rastetter last fall when the two were at a Hawkeye football game: We were tailgating and talking politics, he recalls, pointing out that Iowa hosts lots of forums for presidential candidates, but theres never been one focused on agriculture despite the sector representing a third of the states economy. On one of the windiest days in recent memory Harry Stine, the richest man in Iowa, cranes his neck to examine the elevator shaft inside the 110-foot steel observation tower next to his garage. I view it as trying to make a difference.". "One of the reasons I give is to help those candidates be successful. And you sit next to me. Bankrupt Bruce Rastetter. $25 per post at a $5/CPM. [5] In early 2015, Rastetter, with the help of Iowa governor, Terry Branstad (R), brought Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee. "Professors even discouraged us from talking about it because it was too sensitive," said Angie Carter, a graduate student in sustainable agriculture. And, he backed up his request with large contributions. Rastetter's work on the board cemented his opinion that it was unacceptable to have tuition continue to grow, doubling from 2001 to 2009 at the state's three public universities, which the regents oversee. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. He used the new riches to give $2.5 million to Iowa State for an office suite and an endowed faculty position, the Bruce Rastetter Chair in Agricultural Entrepreneurship. Gary Klicker, a native of Davis County, Iowa, blames Rastetter for turning his community into a pork confinement stronghold that now smells of manure after the expansion of Heartland Pork in the late 1990s. "The market was right, and he took advantage of it," said Walt Wendland, who founded Golden Grain Energy in Mason City. Bruce is the kind of person who never forgets a friend.. I've never believed in looking back other than there should be new experiences and new things you do in life.". What is this - to train Fabulous Bruce Rastetters corn whiskey lobbyists? "Bruce is like I am. When Branstad appointed Rastetter to the Iowa Board of Regents in 2011, Rastetter became an ally of Lang, then the board president. "Oftentimes in this country, if you have success, (people insinuate that) you must not have gotten that in the appropriate way," he said. The family was poor and the work both long and hardrising at 6 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. was the norm, except in summer, when the hours were even longer. It's actually a myth about how to make money on Facebook Bruce L. Rastetter is an American agribusinessman, agricultural entrepreneur, and former president of the Iowa Board of Regents, which governs the state's three public universities. ", "He's tough but fair," Peterson said. Rastetter defends his charitable donations, noting, for starters, that he's given $3.1 million to the University of Iowa, $2.3 million to Iowa State University, and $50,150 to University of . The agribusiness entrepreneur and president of the Iowa Board of Regents, who has given more than $1.1. And then well negotiate.. Seeds were planted in rows 42 inches apart so horses could traverse the fields. If you ask political observers in Iowa about Rastetter, the term kingmaker inevitably comes up, but Rastetter and his allies dispute the idea. ", "It was about Bruce supporting a friend he saw work hard," Sweeney said. Bruce Rastetter, a major Republican donor in Iowa, and Kip Tom, a farmer who ran for Congress in Indiana this year but was defeated in the primary, are also among those being considered,. We dominate genetics in the industry.. Small farmers and environmental groups led fights against hog confinements, saying they fouled the air and land and made parts of rural Iowa uninhabitable. [2], Rastetter is a prolific political donor. They sold off the jet skis and never went riding again. The Evolution of Corn (Click to see full graphic). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. At the time Monsantowith Fraley, then president of the companys genomics group, leading the chargehad developed the biotechnology to insert genes into crop seeds, making them resistant to glyphosate, the plant-killing herbicide in the companys dominant weed killer, Roundup. He said he really wants a serious policy discussion rather than stump speeches, which in past couple of presidential cycles have only really addressed ethanol. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. Celebrities more often then not want to keep their love affairs secret, if you happen to know the name of Bruce Rastetter's partner, please leave a comment in the section below. "[5] Jill Ryan was Rick Santorums former deputy campaign manager. Crucially, it also forbade them from using his seeds to breed their own. Bruce Rastetter Chief Executive Officer. Stine will only say he receives a cut from his companys contributions to Roundup Ready soybeans, and its relationship with Monsanto extends well into the future. podcast episodes, Brokers, Bagmen, & Moles podcast episodes, Connections with BCD Travel podcast episodes, Cyber Security & Cloud Podcast podcast episodes, Coinbase Institutional Market Call podcast episodes, South Side Rules: A Shameless Podcast podcast episodes. He maxed out to several top conservative candidates in 2014, including North Carolinas Thom Tillis, Alaskas Dan Sullivan and Iowas Joni Ernst, and gave $50,000 to Karl Roves American Crossroads. Its not my opinion that matters, its the candidates, he said in a phone interview. The company expanded throughout the 1980s, gobbling up smaller seed companies and conducting soybean research in other climates around the country. Bruce Rastetter net worth 513 Thousand Millions of dollars 75% Net worth score Disclamer: Bruce Rastetter net worth displayed here are calculated based on a combination social factors. Future changes in production practices could favor narrow rows at some point, says Mark Jeschke, DuPont Pioneers agronomy research manager. With Hawkeye, that was 2006. "Bruce is a brilliant guy. And then repeat that feat when his next venture, ethanol, would prove another market with a sour cycle? He also has given money to the University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa, and has an exhibit building named after him after a $1 million contribution to the Iowa State Fair. Sure, there were odors associated with it. This time, the candidates will all come to him. I don't view it as being a kingmaker. On this weeks episode of Idea Generation, Paul Rodriguez Jr. describes his early days as a young skateboarder in California, how he became the face of Nike Skate and eventually launched his own brand, Primitive Skateboarding. Find previews and full coverage at DesMoinesRegister.com/AgSummitLive. In addition to making more money each day, Bruce Rastetter is becoming more and more well-known by the day. There has never been a Bruce Rastetter bill in the Iowa Legislature that has benefited me. Buying more seeds per acre is expensive. Bruce Rastetter is the CEO and founder of the Summit Agricultural Group, an agribusiness based in Iowa. Previously only asexual plants like rosebushes or apple trees could be patented, not self-pollinating crops like corn and soybeans. Last summer, Chris Soules, the current star of The Bachelor who happens to work for Rastetters Summit Group as a real estate broker was reportedly in attendance, rubbing elbows with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. The fund began with the acquisition of 56 farms across four states and generated income from lease income and capital appreciation. "We had just come down river, goofing around, running up a ways and down a ways," Brent Rastetter said. The governor personally called Bush who has not been to Iowa since declaring his intention to mull a 2016 run and also Perry to convince them to attend. CEO: Donald Trump Can Win Iowa If He Stays On Message | Squawk Box | CNBC, Bruce Rastetter at the 2014 Land Investment Expo, Adapting to Weather Extremes 12/11/2013 part 1, Rastetter on controversy over ISU President Leath's flights, Trade Roundtable (April 13, 2018) -- Extended Discussion, Full video: Rastetter meets with Register editorial board, Rastetter on what's expected of new UNI president, Entrepreneur Adds Ethanol to Ventures List, Royal National Lifeboat Institution net worth, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds net worth, New York City Department of Buildings net worth, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines net worth, CORRUPTION: What happened to Grant Solomon? Its an event designed to promote farm policy in a state where pigs outnumber voters 10 to one, but its also a bold display of the political power Rastetter has amassed and a reminder to candidates that his endorsement would be a big get ahead of the Iowa caucuses. The casewhich held portentous implications for all seed developers, including Stinewent in Monsantos favor, affirming intellectual property rights for plant genetics. Schlieman Operating Partner. But one thing wasn't golden, a tragedy in 1995 that changed how he looked at life. @IowaRegents Going to call bullshit on Ag Communication. How to run for office | This story appears in the April 13, 2014 issue of Forbes. This day, he talks sparingly about his modest upbringing. The breeding process grew more advanced and automated, and by the early 1990s the company was testing 150,000 soybean varieties annually and producing the highest-yielding seed on the market. He has also emerged as one of the leading Republican financial contributors in Iowa over the past decade and will stand in the national spotlight Saturday as organizer of the inaugural "Iowa Agricultural Summit" for presidential hopefuls. Brent Rastetter said his older brother helped him earn money for college and showed him the ropes of business, leading him to today run his own company, Quality Ag Builders, which builds hog confinements. Aside from a small, glass-walled house, its his only visible indulgence. ", HE WAS 'ALWAYS THE ONE WORKING,' FRIEND SAYS. In 1994 the U.S. government granted its first patents on the full genetic makeup of a soybean. Roundup Ready technology combined with Stines industry-leading soybean genetics was a natural fit. In response to several "no confidence" votes against the Iowa Board of Regents this week, board President Bruce Rastetter said Wednesday he was pleased backlash has been directed at the regents. And hes got plans to stay there. From media and technology to finance and real estate, leagues and. A dozen potential Republican presidential candidates are about to sit down, one by one, with the biggest GOP donor in Iowa a multimillionaire few people outside the state have ever heard of. Based in Adel, Iowa (pop. According to internet, Bruce Rastetter's height is 1.75m. And when we were after change in policy, he was a tiger.". Rastetter, whose company has a financial interest in agriculture subsidies and strong land prices, in particular, is eager to insert farm policy into the 2016 conversation, though he is coy about his own policy positions. "I think he has been an effective leader. "Bill Knapp is a friend of mine," he said of the influential Democratic donor from Des Moines, "but I don't often see him get written about as a mogul or a real estate baron, compared to an ethanol baron. [7] Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Scott Walker, and Jeb Bush attended the event, located within the Iowa State Fairgrounds. A highly-courted donor, Rastetter has steadily and strategically built his personal and political brand over the past several years. According to wikipedia, Bruce Rastetter was born on August 15, 1990. "He wants us to do something rather than be something.". Heartland suffered multimillion-dollar losses in three of its last five years before being forced in 2004 to sell to Christensen Farms out of Minnesota. Subscribe. YOU HAVE 10,000 FOLLOWERS: 4,000), the dozen or so companies under Stines umbrella form an unlikely titan at the heart of the market, directly or indirectly generating revenues from almost 50 million acres of crops in the U.S. each year. As of May 2023, Bruce Springsteen's net worth is roughly $500 Million, making him the 4th richest rock star in the world. All rights reserved. He started by building agribusiness empires in some of Iowas key sectors including pork and ethanol then built close relationships with Iowas political elite, like Gov. Weve worked a lot in that space but also in the design of the plants and equipment, says Robert Fraley, Monsantos chief technology officer, who has been doing business with Stine since the early 1980s. Hell get to ask Jeb Bush what exactly he thinks about ethanol, pepper Scott Walker with questions about EPA regulations and quiz Marco Rubio about where he stands on GMO labeling, if he wants. Its going to make them more substantive in their approach, said Rastetter. The company supports capital investments with strategic private equity partnerships and manages agricultural assets, including extensive beef, pork and grain production facilities. JET SKIING ON RIVER, LIFE TAKES TRAGIC TURN. I think that prepared him. I think I try to make a difference with what I do and what candidates I support, but I would consider myself more [an influencer] than a kingmaker, Rastetter said. That means most of the biomass is using valuable resources that dont necessarily improve a farmers yield. Counties | "But the more I thought about it Bruce was one of those people who encouraged and supported me." It also might work to throw in the magic Iowa words work ethic that are so ingrained in Rastetter's DNA. Summit Agricultural Group | All Rights Reserved. He also founded Hawkeye Renewables, which became one of the countrys largest pure-play corn-based ethanol producers, and FS Bioenergia, a Brazilian low-carbon biofuels and energy platform that owns the largest biofuels production plant in South America. Its very simple. Jon Probst Managing Director. According to Forbes and industry experts' latest study, Bruce Rastetter estimated net worth is more than a couple of million USD. Hes also come under fire for an Iowa State University-backed development projectin Tanzania which critics argued was a land grab that would benefit his own company for receiving half a million in no-interest wind energy loans from a university program and for having a ISU researchers conduct a beef study on his own farm. Rastetter also got plenty of help from Nick Ryan, a major Iowa operative, and his wife Jill Ryan, Santorums former deputy campaign manager. But the company went through bankruptcy proceedings, and in 2010, the two plants were sold to Flint Hills Resources, owned by Koch Industries. William Rastetter owns over 20,000 units of Neurocrine Biosciences stock worth over $4,315,690 and over the last 20 years he sold NBIX stock worth over $1,559,850. His term expired in 2017. Some students said they felt the full weight of pressure for criticizing an influential donor. In a gathering of movers and shakers at Rastetter's home, he asked Branstad to run again. YOU HAVE 20,000 FOLLOWERS: $100 per post at a $5/CPM. Stine noticed that corn plants hadnt changed much in generations. Whitney and other investors, Heartland Pork Enterprises Inc. became the fastest-growing hog operation in Iowa and the United States and the 12th-largest pork producer. Bruce Rastetter, an agribusiness mogul who's made a fortune in pork, ethanol and farm real estate, has long worked behind the scenes to help bankroll conservatives across the country, but. Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. How the 58-year-old self-made millionaire assembled one of the biggest GOP cattle calls yet is illustrative of the influential network hes built over the past several years, as hes emerged as the states top Republican donor at both the federal and state level, donating nearly half a million and $1.1 million, respectively, since 2003, according to campaign finance disclosures sums that are likely a fraction of his total giving to groups that dont have to disclose their donors. Agriculture and energy reporter Donnelle Eller (@DonnelleE) also will provide coverage. [8], In January 2017, shortly before the White House transition, Rastetter voiced his opposition to pending mega-mergers in the agriculture industry, such as those concerning Bayer, Monsanto, Dow Chemical, ChemChina, and Syngenta. Though the company also began breeding corn seed genetics, soybeans remained its most profitable niche. "Because he tried and failed," Rastetter said. He said he ended up with 20,000 hogs within four miles of his house and its made him sick literally. Today 60% of all U.S. soybean acreage is planted using genetics developed by Stines companies, which also have a strong presence in South America and other international markets. "I was going the other direction, and Bruce looked over at me. After seven years of genetic tinkering hes won plenty of converts. State legislature | Rastetter has long been known in political circles for his annual summer party, an A-list Republican event complete with pork on a stick that sometimes attracts national conservative figures like Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. A lot of business success revolves around timing.". U.S. President | Rastetter "destroyed the confidence in the corporate pork industry among Davis County residents," said Francis Thicke, a former candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and a longtime advocate for sustainable farming practices. Brent maintains relationships with many people -- family, friends, associates, & neighbors -- including Karli Rastetter, Zachariah Rastetter, Bruce Rastetter, Julie Rastetter and Clifford Gryte. [1] Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Critics slammed Branstad for appointing Rastetter after he gave more than $160,000 to the governors 2010 campaign. We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal. "That would probably be something at one point that I wished had not happened. Moreover, he could start his own breeding program using the seeds. In 2004, Rastetter sold the company to Christensen Farms, making it the fourth largest pork player in the country. Bruce Rastetter is not amused by the "kingmaker" label often thrown around by the press. After breeding many descendants of the seeds with that genetic makeup, the company has developed corn that can be planted in much narrower rows12 inches or even pairs of rows 8 inches apartincreasing the number of plants per acre to as much as 80,000. Much like he is in business, when he puts his mind to something hes very focused and works very hard and more often than not is successful.. It takes a minute and a half to learn what there is to learn about plant breeding., At the time public universities dominated breeding, and for good reason: Profits were limited, since intellectual property rights for soybean plants didnt existand wouldnt for another 30 years. Stine Seed does business with all of the heavyweights and has for more than three decades, primarily because it has something everybody else needs: the best-performing soybean seeds in the business. Rastetter pulled a lot of levers to get much of the GOP field to come to his agriculture event. Clearly not everyone I have backed has won.. I understand how folks could look at him that way, he said. "I'd raise half the equity capital, and they would build the plant in Iowa Falls," he said. But, as a consequence of his learning disabilities, Stine always worked slowly and carefully. @MarcoBattaglia Pipe scams end when everyone tells Bruce Rastetter that atmospheric C02 is more abundant than water https://t.co/US30lSmktc. Since 2010, Rastetter has donated over $1 million to candidates and. Then theres Stine. And now, Rastetter is getting up close and personal with the presidential hopefuls in full view of the media and other deep-pocketed donors. By the time it got its 1994 patent Stine had become the largest private seed company in the country, the bulk of its revenues still coming from royalties from licensing its award-winning soybean genetics. Then know this: Rastetter gave $5 million in 2008 toward upgraded Hawkeye football training facilities. Ultimately, the university backed away from assisting with the plan, but only after an uproar. With $30 million from J.H. The Register will also cover counter events held by a coalition including Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Many people ask this question about the money Bruce Rastetter makes from Twitter. [1], In 1994, three years after the birth of his first company, he consolidated his feed management, construction, and swine projects into Heartland Pork Enterprises. Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, anchored live from London, tracks breaking news in Europe and around the world. Brent's net worth hovers over $250,000 - $499,999 with a yearly income that's about $200 - 249,999. [1] Career [ edit] Before the market chilled, Rastetter had worked out a deal with Thomas H. Lee Partners, which bought 80 percent of Hawkeye Holdings, investing $312 million, according to the book "Extreme Money: Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk" by Satyajit Das. [6] In 2015 Rastetter announced the inaugural Iowa Agriculture Summit to address the political initiatives and interests of farmers and agriculture in the state, such as GMO's, nutrition labeling, food waste, and biotechnology. The agribusiness entrepreneur and president of the Iowa Board of Regents, who has given more than $1.1 million in state political contributions since 2003, is not the sort to chuckle. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles. I think its already working.. You ought to feel good about that success. Rastetter said that quietly building relationships and nurturing those friendships led to his business breakthrough. $140 per post at $7/CPM. "I suggested," Rastetter told this reporter later that day, "that the governor speak with you.". He also has generated heat from his advocacy of efficiency reviews at the universities and a new funding model that would award schools that attract more Iowa students.

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